Long Beach works to fight rise in sex trafficking

Simone Miller, right, holds on to her mother, D'Lita Miller during a Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force event in Long Beach. Simone Miller, a victim of sex trafficking, talked about her ordeal during the event.JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sex trafficking by the numbers

13 – The average age a girl becomes involved in the sex industry. That could include stripping, pornography or prostituting

1,300 – Victims of human trafficking identified in California between 2010 and 2012

98 – Percentage of sex trafficking victims who are women and girls

80 – Percentage of Los Angeles County victims who come from the foster care system

16 – Sex trafficking cases in Long Beach between 2012 and 2013

24 – Girls and women rescued in recent Long Beach cases. Of those, 19 were juveniles.

15 – Men arrested in those cases. Of those, 12 were identified as gang members.

45 – Years Ray Rhodes, 33, of Los Angeles will serve in prison for prostituting a 13-year-old Long Beach girl. Rhodes was sentenced earlier this month.

* Sources: LBPD, LA County District Attorney, California Attorney General

As a former prostitute and survivor of sex trafficking, D’Lita Miller said she worked hard to shelter her five children from the horror she experienced on the streets.

So when the young mother learned that her 16-year-old daughter had been arrested for prostitution, Miller said she was in disbelief.

“I was out there on the streets trying to minister to people, never thinking that my own child would experience what I had experienced,” Miller said. “I thought it was a generational curse. I thought it was my fault.”

But as police investigated, Miller learned that her daughter, Simone, was a victim of sex trafficking. The girl, who was still in high school at the time, thought she was going to a party with friends but was instead taken to a hotel room in Los Angeles, where she was held hostage for seven days and forced to sell her body. Simone eventually escaped and called for help.

Unfortunately, stories like Simone’s are becoming all too familiar as police see a rise in sex trafficking cases in Long Beach and throughout Los Angeles County.

Mother and daughter shared their stories at a community event last week that was sponsored by the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force at the Guidance Center Long Beach on Pine Avenue. The event, held in honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January, drew roughly 200 residents and community leaders including Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal and City Councilman Patrick O’Donnell.

Authorities say human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which victims are exploited for labor or services. The majority of cases involve sexual exploitation of women and children.

In California and the Long Beach area, a rising number of street gangs are using sex trafficking as a quick and easy way to make cash. As the problem escalates, law enforcement agencies, community groups and legislators are working to raise awareness and fight the horrific crime.

Long Beach steps up

Guided by Police Chief McDonnell, who is passionate about the issue, Long Beach is taking a lead in fighting sex trafficking.

McDonnell said the LBPD in recent years has changed its philosophy when it comes to arresting minors for prostitution, and in many cases, officers now focus on intervention. Last fall, the council asked the department to look into creating a special sex trafficking unit.

In a speech at Wednesday’s event, McDonnell said many people aren’t aware of the scope of the problem.

A common misconception, he said, is that victims are smuggled from other countries, but in the majority of cases in the United States, the victims are American. Most are minors who are runaways from home or the foster care system.

“Too often, the children victims involved in sex trafficking come from broken or dysfunctional homes where there’s a history of abuse either physically, sexually or emotionally, or all of them,” McDonnell said. “They have low self-esteem because of what they’ve been through, so they become runaways and then become victims and forced into prostitution. And unfortunately in many cases, they’re not reported as missing because nobody’s looking for them.”

Pimps prowl parks and bus stations looking for easy targets. Once a girl is in his grasp, the trafficker will hold her hostage and force her to sell her body. Victims are sometimes tattooed with the pimp’s name or a gang name.

Simone Miller, right, holds on to her mother, D'Lita Miller during a Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force event in Long Beach. Simone Miller, a victim of sex trafficking, talked about her ordeal during the event. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
GEMS Uncovered's Ruth Escobedo, left, Mary White, program director, Markell Morris, and Cathy Crandall gather in Long Beach. The group is an outreach program that tries to help young women on the streets. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
GEMS Uncovered's Ruth Escobedo, left, and Cathy Crandall put together care packages in Long Beach. The group is a street outreach program that tries to help young women on the streets. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
GEMS Uncovered puts together care packages in Long Beach. The group is a street outreach program that tries to help young women on the streets. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Long Beach councilman Patrick O'Donnell listens as Police Chief Jim McDonnell speaks during a Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force event in Long Beach. JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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